| Venue: Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal Dates: 16-18 June |
| Coverage: Live text commentary and radio commentary of all sessions on the BBC Sport website & app, with live commentary of the race on BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds app from 19:00 on Sunday. Full details |
Charles Leclerc will wear a helmet in tribute to Gilles Villeneuve at the Canadian Grand Prix after talks with the Ferrari legend’s family.
Villeneuve’s son Jacques, the 1997 world champion, said it was a “shock” to see Leclerc with the helmet because the family had not been consulted.
Villeneuve spoke to Leclerc to raise issues around trademarks and sponsors.
Leclerc posed for photos with Gilles Villeneuve’s widow Joann and daughter Melanie before qualifying in Montreal.
Gilles Villeneuve became a Formula 1 legend for his exploits with Ferrari, for whom he drove from the late part of the 1977 season until his death in a crash at the 1982 Belgian Grand Prix.
He has become an icon renowned as one of the fastest drivers ever seen in F1, and for his on-the-limit style.
Many see similar qualities in Leclerc, Ferrari’s lead driver since he joined the team in 2019 and supplanted four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel.
Melanie Villeneuve, who controls her father’s image rights on behalf of their family, told motorsport.com: “Charles was very sweet about it. We have no objections. It is a nice tribute.”
Jacques Villeneuve contrasted Leclerc’s decision to go ahead unilaterally with the approach of Lewis Hamilton when he wore an Ayrton Senna tribute helmet in the past.
“It was just a big surprise to see the helmet because nobody had called the family,” he told motorsport.com. “It’s mainly my mother and my sister involved in that. So that was just a big shock.
“And when Lewis wore Ayrton Senna’s helmet the family was involved, obviously, because it’s not just something you do like this.
“But then I chat with Charles and he said, ‘Oh, sorry, I didn’t think about it.’ And then I think he talked with my sister and everything seems to be clean there.
“So it was just the way of doing things, you just check with the people involved first. That’s all. It’s not a huge issue.”
